With the colder temps, and Thanksgiving right around the corner, we are starting to get into the holiday spirit with some fun holiday-themed programs and shopping to make your December merrier.

Every Thursday in December, enjoy a mix of seasonal and traditional jazz tunes at Jazz in the Atrium. The Thursday night concert series will feature some of the best musicians in town, led by Rob Holbert (December 4), Tom Braxton (December 11), and Freddie Jones (December 18).

Jazz in the Atrium at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Undermain Theatre continues its popular and free reading series at the DMA with an encore reading of Dylan Thomas’s classic poem A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Accompanied by traditional music and carols, A Child’s Christmas in Wales will be a charming afternoon of festive storytelling for the whole family on Saturday, December 13, at 2:00 p.m.

Undermain Reads A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

When you are at the DMA for Jazz in the Atrium and A Child’s Christmas in Wales, or at any other time, don’t forget to stop by the Museum Store and make it your one-stop shop for holiday gifts. One-of-a-kind items from around the world are available, from handmade felt animals to hand-painted, whimsical book ends, and products celebrating the DMA’s collection and the Bouquets exhibition. (I have already purchased the beautiful Bouquets 2015 calendar for a family member!)

And we’re not the only ones in the Dallas Arts District getting into the holiday spirit. On Saturday, December 6, experience Holidays in the District with a day of music, dancing, theater, art-making activities, photos with Santa, and more.

Magdalena Grohman leading a class in the Center for Creative Connections

Magdalena Grohman is a creativity expert who spends the occasional Thursday evening at the DMA helping inspire visitors participating in Thursday Night Live’s Artistic Encounters. But how did Magdalena discover her own creativity? She shared that journey with us below.

I received one of my very first lessons about creativity in elementary school. I was made to believe that creativity was only for those artistically or musically talented. You were born with it or you were not. I did not possess these talents, but at the same time I enjoyed writing in my diary, sketching (especially different layouts and arrangements for my dream room), creating collages, and so on. But that wasn’t considered creative. Only art, only music, and only if you were naturally talented.

The cracks in this belief system started to appear in high school when I met students and teachers who encouraged creative expression through other domains such as dance, movement, and theater. Suddenly, I realized I could express myself, share my state of mind, tell a story, and provoke others to think in new, creative ways. The true breakthrough came when a group of professors from Jagiellonian University in Krakow came to my high school to lead a workshop that taught creative thinking. With the workshops came a new wave of thinking about creativity and my first and foremost discovery about it: creativity was in everyone and could be enhanced.

This meant you could be CREATIVE in any number of ways, be it telling stories, designing birthday cards, finding new ways to teach, writing a song, formulating hypotheses, communicating diagnosis . . . the list goes on. This also meant that you could nurture creative potential at any stage in life. “But,” the professors warned, “You need to put some work into it.” What they meant was that creativity could be honed and developed by shaping core attitudes about creativity such as open-mindedness, self-discipline, and perseverance.

So, the first step to increase your creative potential is to liberate yourself from any belief system that is detrimental to creativity. The second step is to nurture positive attitudes toward creativity. These include (according to creativity researchers and educators) sticking to your creative endeavor no matter what and being open-minded, observant, curious, and self-disciplined. With this in mind, you will see that the next steps are much, much easier.

In honor of summer, we’ve put together a top ten list of the best reasons to spend it at the Dallas Museum of Art (although we could have gone to 100!). What are your favorite ways to spend summer at the Museum? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Top Ten Reasons to Spend Summer at the DMA

10. It’s a bargain.DMA members receive free admission and parking every day. Active military personnel and their families receive free admission all summer through September 4 (learn more about the Blue Star Museum Program). The first Tuesday of every month is free, and Thursdays throughout the summer are half-price ($5) admission!

The 28th season of Jazz Under the Stars will kick off tomorrow and we are all very excited about this year’s lineup. A full schedule and brief details on each of the groups can be found on our concerts page. I recently had the chance to chat with Tim Ries, saxophone player and featured artist for the June 9 Jazz Under the Stars concert. I was excited to get to ask him a few questions about his background as an artist, his time with the Rolling Stones, and The Rolling Stones Project. Watch a video of Tim performing his arrangement of Satisfaction from The Rolling Stones Project.

Q: What made you first get into jazz, and music in general?

My dad played the trumpet and had a band, although it was not his full-time job. I grew up in Detroit, so he also took me to all the concerts that toured through the area. I got to see all the famous big bands when they were on tour, like Woody Herman Band, Maynard Ferguson, Count Basie, and the Ellington Band. Then of course my dad also had all the jazz greats playing at home too, like Louis Armstrong.

My sisters were all into the Beatles and Rolling Stones so I heard that a lot growing up too, which is great since now I play with the Stones.

Q: So, what was your “career path” as an artist?

When all the Motown bands left the Detroit area for California in the early to mid 70s, many of the “sidemen” stayed in the area. I had the chance to play with these guys from a very young age. That was really great. Then I went to the University of North Texas for my undergrad and got my masters from the University of Michigan. And I am actually working on my DMA at the Manhattan School of Music right now. From 1983 to 86 I was in the Maynard Ferguson band, so I guess that would be considered my first “touring gig.”

After that, I moved to New York, where I have lived since. I play a lot in the city and travel all around to play with many people and many different types of music. I have had the chance to work with lots of great musicians, including Donald Bird, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Jackson.

Q: When did you start working with the Rolling Stones and how did you get this gig?

I started touring with the Rolling Stones in 1999. I had worked with their trombone player, Mike Davis, before and the saxophone spot opened up so he called me. They needed someone who could play saxophone as well as keyboard and organ and I could do it. So it really was a matter of who you know, being in the right place at the right time, and being a versatile and well-rounded musician.

Q: What is your favorite concert, or road experience?

Well, two things come to mind…

Many years ago I was booked on a recording session with Elvin Jones, who is my favorite jazz drummer of all time. I was very excited to be part of this session. Then on the same evening of the Jones session, I was booked to play a Stevie Wonder concert. Stevie is my favorite singer. Talk about an exciting day!

The second one was a Stones gig in Rio, on the Copa Cabana Beach, where we played for 1.5 to 2 million people. The concert promoter could not give an exact count because of the huge size of the crowd! They had to build a bridge over the road to the stage–over all the people–simply so the band could get to the stage to play the show. The “awesome factor” of that many people is almost indescribable.

I had been wanting to do a “jazz album” of current popular music for awhile. I wanted to do something totally new and not just new arrangements of the same old standards from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Having been with the Stones for several years by then, I thought, “why not do this project with their tunes as ‘modern day’ standards?” Charlie Watts got into the project first and was going to be the guest drummer on a couple of tracks. Then Keith Richards got in on a few tracks, and by the time the first album was finished, we had over twenty-five guest artists on it. The second album ended up with seventy-five guests, including all the original Stones members again, as well as an overall all-star lineup.

Q: What new projects are on the horizon for you?

I will have two new CDs coming out this year. The first one that will be released was actually recorded in between the time of The Rolling Stones Project and Stone World. The second is a live CD recorded more recently in a New York club called Smalls. It features John Patitucci, Chris Potter, Billy Drummond, and Kalman Olah.

I also have many recordings and video footage of additional Stones songs done in big band arrangements that I would like to release sometime in the near future as well.

Mostly, in my own projects, I don’t want to be classified as only a jazz artist. I want to do projects where I have a chance to make great music with all the great musicians that I have had the honor to work and play with over the years.

Don’t miss your chance to see Tim Ries and The Rolling Stones Project featuring Bernard Fowler on Thursday, June 9!

Denise Helbing is Manager of Partner Programs at the Dallas Museum of Art.

As a special treat for our Dallas Museum of Art jazz (and other music) lovers—and in celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month—we will showcase the music of the great composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington in the Atrium (part of Thursday Night Live!) during April.

We thought that this would be a great time to spotlight Wendell Sneed, our Coordinator of Jazz in the Atrium. Wendell is a long-time employee of the DMA (18 years!), but more than that he is our own local celebrity and Dallas jazz legend! Wendell was a member of the popular 1970s Dallas funk group Soul Seven and was featured in the 2008 KERA documentary South Dallas Pop—When Funk Was King (visit this link to listen to a clip of Wendell — on drums — and Soul Seven performing with Eddie Purrell).

Soul Seven Album Cover (Wendell is the one on the far left)

I sat down to chat with Wendell about what influenced him to become a jazz musician and to get a bit more information about the great line-up for April.

Wendell Sneed, Jazz in the Atrium Coordinator

What got you interested in jazz to begin with? When did you start playing?My high school band director, Mr. Allison Tucker, was a jazz drummer. He got me interested in music and was my first mentor. I originally wanted to be an athlete in school but hated all the running! By the late 50s I was totally hooked on the drums and jazz and was playing with several bands around town. By the time I was 17, I was touring all around the Southwest and beyond.

What was your favorite gig while you were out on the road touring?Besides my time with Soul Seven, my favorite gig was when I was the Music Director for a group called “The Honey Combs” in the late 70s. We had a couple of singles that went “gold.” One of them was the tune “Want Ads.”

What is your favorite Duke Ellington tune?My favorite Ellington tune is a little obscure. It’s called “Come Sunday.” It actually is one of his sacred music compositions. Of course, I like many of the more well known Ellington tunes also.

What is your favorite work of art in the DMA’s collections?Leadbelly, by Michael G. Owen, Jr., in the American sculpture collection is my favorite. I think about Mr. Owen creating this work and wonder what it was like to talk to Leadbelly himself as he worked on it. Leadbelly’s music became a very important influence on many musicians from many different genres—from blues, to folk and even rock. I wonder sometimes why Mr. Owen chose to portray Leadbelly in this light—solitary and without his guitar in sight.

Michael G. Owen Jr.'s Leadbelly (1943)

Tell us a bit more about the acts you have booked for the April Ellington Showcase.We will kick off the month on April 7 with the UNT Repertory Ensemble, which is a group dedicated to playing and preserving the art of “classic jazz.” Next, on the 14th, we have pianist Dave Zoller and his group Daybreak Express. They specialize in doing exclusively Ellington material. On the 21st, we will feature the top student jazz band from Carroll Senior High School. They were the finalists for the Essentially Ellington Competition, founded and judged by Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center in New York City.

I am most excited about the performance planned for April 28. We will feature Shelley Carrol, who was a member of the Ellington Orchestra for many years after graduating from the University of North Texas. He will be joined by a very special guest, Duke Ellington’s grandson, Paul Ellington. Paul will share stories of Duke and his compositions that Shelley and his quartet will perform.

In addition to the acts Wendell mentioned, on April 14 and 21 we will offer tours of jazz-related artworks in the DMA’s collections, including the Jazz Bowl (pictured above), led by curators and other staff.

Denise Helbing is Manager of Partner Programs at the Dallas Museum of Art.

This stunning new acquisition, The Jazz Bowl by Viktor Schreckengost, was inspired by an evening’s revelry during one of the artist’s visits to New York City in the early 1930s. Currently on view in the DMA’s 4th floor galleries, it celebrates April as Jazz Appreciation Month.

Nightlife in Dallas has a touch of jazz on Thursday nights. Our weekly event, Thursday Night Live, features an exciting vibe with great Dallas jazz bands, exquisite art, and thoughtful conversations. In this video, some of our most loyal fans describe what makes Thursday nights so special in the Dallas Arts District, including live jazz, Artist Encounters, and free student admission.

Every Thursday Night Live runs from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. (unless otherwise noted). Please leave a comment and tell us about your Thursday Night Live experiences.